Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond says he does not believe merging county and city police forces is what the people want, but if it does happen, he should be the leader of any countywide law enforcement entity.
PDF: State of the City 2010 speech
“I want the public to understand that if there is a decision made to move toward looking at consolidating law enforcement services, I plan to stand up and … push pretty hard for the sheriff to be running any law enforcement as it relates to this county,” he said Friday during a news conference he called in response to Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield’s State of the City address.
During his Thursday address, Mr. Littlefield said merging city police and the county sheriff’s office could be an option.
“If we are to enjoy the greatest benefits of the decade ahead, we must have unified, skilled and equipped departments providing a modern urban level of services without regard to borders or jurisdictional limitations,” he said.
But some of the mayor’s comments struck Sheriff Hammond as somewhat disparaging toward his deputies, and he said Friday that his force is professional and has top-quality standards.
“I certainly don’t want to leave the impression that we are second best when it comes to our professionalism,” Sheriff Hammond said during the news conference at his Market Street office.
As for him being the head of any consolidated department, sheriff’s deputies carry countywide jurisdiction and are able to make arrests and investigate crimes in any county municipality as well as the unincorporated areas, he noted.
Mr. Littlefield said Friday that he meant no offense to the sheriff or his deputies; he simply was bragging on Chattanooga police. But as far as who might lead a future combined force, those details are up for negotiation, he said.
“The question of who is going to run it is the sort of thing we are going to have to work on,” he said.
In Nashville, which has a metro government, the sheriff does not run the unified police force, Mr. Littlefield said.